European residential real estate firm Heimstaden Bostad is acquiring a SEK1.5bn (€147.9m) project from UK developer and asset manager PLATFORM.
Heimstaden Bostad said it has agreed to fund and acquire PLATFORM’s 464-home residential project in the Bonnington regeneration area in Edinburgh.
The transaction is structured as a turnkey forward funded project. PLATFORM will act as developer on the project and will also act as asset manager once the development is completed in mid-2024.
Christian Birrell, the head of Heimstaden Bostad’s UK investment, said: “Edinburgh’s strong fundamentals make this acquisition a natural next step for us in providing high-quality and affordable homes to our customers, in line with our strategy to expand our presence in the UK market.”
Heimstaden Bostad’s existing footprint in the UK consists of a 750-home development in Birmingham also being delivered under a forward purchase agreement and around 60 more homes in the Greater London area.
Jean-Marc Vandevivere, CEO of PLATFORM said “We’re delighted to be partnering with Heimstaden and contributing our deep experience of Build to Rent to support their continued UK expansion. We’re looking forward to opening our Edinburgh scheme in 2024 to provide much-needed housing in one of the most attractive cities in the UK.”
PLATFORM has been developing and operating build-to-rent properties across the UK since 2015. The company assembled the Edinburgh site in 2019 and 2020 from three separate ownerships and subsequently obtained planning permission for 464 residential apartments.
The Edinburgh project is the ninth build to rent development commenced by PLATFORM as part of a wider portfolio and pipeline with a gross development value of over £1bn across over 3,750 homes.
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